Richard Colvin Reid (born 12 August 1973), also known as the "Shoe Bomber", is the perpetrator of the
failed shoe bombing attempt on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young man in prison after years as a petty criminal. Later he became radicalized and went to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he trained and became a member of
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
.
On 22 December 2001, Reid boarded American Airlines Flight 63 between Paris and Miami, wearing shoes packed with explosives, which he unsuccessfully tried to detonate. Passengers subdued him on the plane, which landed at
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, the closest US airport. He was arrested, charged, and indicted. In 2002, Reid pleaded guilty in
US federal court
The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government. The U.S. federal judiciary consists primari ...
to eight federal criminal counts of terrorism, based on his attempt to destroy a commercial aircraft in flight. He was sentenced to three life terms plus 110 years in prison without parole and was transferred to
ADX Florence
The United States Penitentiary, Florence Administrative Maximum Facility (USP Florence ADMAX), commonly known as ADX Florence, is an American federal prison in Fremont County near Florence, Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Pris ...
, a
super maximum security prison in Colorado.
Background
Reid was born in
Bromley
Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011.
Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...
, London,
[ In an email sent to his mother, Reid stated he was part of the war "against unbelief" and was sacrificing his life to "help remove the oppressive American forces from the Muslim lands"] to Lesley Hughes, who was of native English descent, and Colvin Robin Reid, a man of mixed race whose father was a
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n immigrant.
When Reid was born, his father, a career criminal, was in prison for stealing a car.
Reid attended
Thomas Tallis School
Thomas Tallis School is a large mixed comprehensive school for pupils aged 11–19, located in Kidbrooke in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, London, England. It opened in 1971, and was named after the composer Thomas Tallis, who lived in Greenwich ...
in
Kidbrooke
Kidbrooke is an area of South East London, England, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich south-east of Charing Cross and north west of Eltham.
The district takes its name from the Kyd Brook, a watercourse which runs from Orpington to Lewisham, ...
, leaving at age 16 and becoming a graffiti writer who was in and out of detention.
He began writing
graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
under the name "Enrol" as part of a gang,
and ultimately accumulated more than 10 convictions for crimes against persons and property.
He served sentences at
Feltham Young Offenders Institution and at
Maidstone Prison.
In 1992, while serving a three-year sentence for various street robberies, he converted to Islam.
Islamic radicalisation
Upon his release from prison in 1995,
he joined the
Brixton Mosque
The Brixton Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre (the "Brixton Mosque", or "Masjid ibn Taymeeyah") is a mosque located in Gresham Road in the Brixton area of South London. It is managed by Black British converts and is known for its history of cont ...
.
He later began attending the
Finsbury Park Mosque
The Finsbury Park Mosque, also known as the North London Central Mosque, is a five-storey mosque located next to Finsbury Park station close to Arsenal Football Club's Emirates Stadium, in the London Borough of Islington. Finsbury Park Mosqu ...
in North London, headed at that time by the anti-American cleric
Abu Hamza al-Masri
Mustafa Kamel Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى كامل مصطفى; born 15 April 1958), also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri (; , – literally, father of Hamza, the Egyptian), or simply Abu Hamza, is an Egyptian cleric who was the imam of Finsbury Park M ...
, who was described as "the heart of the extremist Islamic culture" in Britain.
By 1998 Reid was voicing extremist views.
At the Finsbury Park Mosque he fell under the sway of "terrorist talent spotters and handlers" allied with al-Qaeda, including
Djamal Beghal, one of the leaders of the foiled
plan for a 2001 suicide bombing of the American Embassy in Paris.
He spent 1999 and 2000 in Pakistan and trained at a terrorist camp in Afghanistan, according to several informants.
He may also have attended an anti-American religious training centre in
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
as a follower of
Mubarak Ali Gilani
Mubarik Ali Shah Gillani (August 15, 1936– May 15, 2021 in Lahore) was a Pakistani Sufi religious leader of the Qadiriyya tariqa (order). He was the founder of The Muslims of America and also founded the International Qur'anic Open University. ...
.
After his return to Britain, Reid worked to obtain duplicate passports from British government consulates abroad. He lived and travelled in several places in Europe, communicating using an address in
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
, Pakistan, coincidentally where
al Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...
was formed in the late 1980s.
Preparation for bombing
Reid and
Saajid Badat
Saajid Muhammad Badat (born 28 March 1979) is a British terrorist who was sentenced to a 13-year prison term for planning to blow up an aircraft with a bomb hidden in his shoe.
Badat did not go through with the plot. His co-conspirator Richard ...
, another British man preparing as a terrorist, returned to Pakistan in November 2001, and reportedly travelled overland to Afghanistan. They were given "shoe bombs", casual footwear adapted to be covertly smuggled onto aircraft before being used to destroy them. Later
forensic analysis
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...
of both bombs showed that they contained the same
plastic explosive
Plastic explosive is a soft and hand-moldable solid form of explosive material. Within the field of explosives engineering, plastic explosives are also known as putty explosives
or blastics.
Plastic explosives are especially suited for explos ...
and that the respective lengths of
detonator cord
Detonating cord (also called detonation cord, detacord, detcord, primer cord, or sun cord) is a thin, flexible plastic tube usually filled with pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN, pentrite). With the PETN exploding at a rate of approximately , ...
had come from the same batch: the cut mark on Badat's cord exactly matched that on Reid's. The pair returned separately to the United Kingdom in early December 2001. Reid went to Belgium for 10 days before catching a train to Paris on 16 December.
On 21 December 2001, Reid attempted to board a flight from Paris to
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
. His boarding was delayed because his dishevelled physical appearance aroused the suspicions of the airline passenger screeners. In addition, Reid did not answer all of their questions and had not checked any luggage for the transatlantic flight. Additional screening by the
French National Police
The National Police (french: Police nationale), formerly known as the , is one of two national police forces of France, the other being the National Gendarmerie. The National Police is the country's main civil law enforcement agency, with primar ...
resulted in Reid being re-issued a ticket for a flight on the following day.
He returned to the Paris airport the following day and boarded
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
Flight 63 from Paris to Miami, wearing his special shoes packed with plastic explosives in their hollowed-out bottoms.
Bombing attempt on American Airlines Flight 63
![Richard Reid's Shoes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Richard_Reid%27s_Shoes.jpg)
On 22 December 2001, a passenger on Flight 63 from Paris to Miami complained of the smell of smoke in the cabin shortly after a meal service. One flight attendant, Hermis Moutardier, thinking she smelled a burnt match, walked along the aisles of the plane, trying to assess the source. She found Reid, who was sitting alone near a window, attempting to light a match. Moutardier warned him that smoking was not allowed onboard the aircraft. Reid promised to stop.
A few minutes later, Moutardier found Reid leaned over in his seat. After she asked him what he was doing, Reid grabbed at her, revealing one shoe in his lap, a fuse leading into the shoe, and a lit match. Several passengers worked together to subdue the 6 foot 4 inch (193 cm) tall Reid who weighed 215 pounds (97 kg). They restrained him using plastic handcuffs, seatbelt extensions, leather waist belts and headphone cords. A doctor on board administered a
tranquilizer
A tranquilizer is a drug that is designed for the treatment of anxiety, fear, tension, agitation, and disturbances of the mind, specifically to reduce states of anxiety and tension.
Etymology
Tranquilizer, as a term, was first used by F.F. Yonk ...
to him, which he found in the emergency medical kit of the airliner.
The flight was immediately diverted to
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts, the closest airport in the United States.
The explosive apparently did not detonate due to the delay in the departure of Reid's flight. The rainy weather, along with Reid's foot's perspiration, caused the fuse to be too damp to ignite.
Legal proceedings and sentencing
![Florence ADMAX](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Florence_ADMAX.jpg)
Reid was immediately arrested at Logan International Airport after the incident. Two days later, he was charged before a
federal court in Boston with "interfering with the performance of duties of flight crew members by assault or intimidation", a crime which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Additional charges were added when he was formally
indicted
An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...
by a
grand jury
A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...
. The judge ordered Reid held in jail without
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countries ...
, pending trial due to the gravity of the crimes and the perceived high risk that he would try to flee.
Officials at the time indicated that Reid's shoes contained 10 ounces (283 g) of explosive material characteristic of
C-4, enough to blow a hole in the fuselage and cause the plane to crash.
During a preliminary hearing on 28 December, an FBI agent testified that forensic analysis had identified the chemicals as
PETN
Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), also known as PENT, PENTA, (ПЕНТА, primarily in Russian) TEN, corpent, or penthrite (or, rarely and primarily in German, as nitropenta), is an explosive material. It is the nitrate ester of pentaerythri ...
, the primary explosive, and
TATP (triacetone triperoxide), a chemical needed to detonate the bomb with a fuse and match.
The prosecutor obtained a grand jury indictment and on 16 January 2002, Reid was charged with nine criminal counts related to terrorism, namely:
* Attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction
* Attempted homicide
* Placing or transporting an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft or public mass transportation vehicle,
* Attempted murder
* Two counts of interference with flight crew members and attendants on an aircraft
* Attempted destruction of an aircraft or public mass transportation vehicle
* Using a destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence
* Attempted destruction of an aircraft
* Attempted wrecking of a mass transportation vehicle
The ninth charge, attempted wrecking of a mass transportation vehicle, was dismissed on 11 June 2002, because the Congressional definition of "vehicle" did not include aircraft.
Reid pleaded guilty to the remaining eight counts on 4 October 2002. On 31 January 2003, he was sentenced by
Judge William Young to the maximum of three consecutive life sentences and 110 years with no possibility of parole.
Reid was also fined the maximum of $250,000 on each count, a total of $2 million.
During the sentencing hearing, Reid said he was an enemy of the United States and in league with al-Qaeda. When Reid said he was a soldier of
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
under the command of
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
, Judge Young responded:
You are not an enemy combatant, you are a terrorist ... You are not a soldier in any army, you are a terrorist. To call you a soldier gives you far too much stature. '' oints to U.S. flag' You see that flag, Mr. Reid? That is the flag of the United States of America. That flag will be here long after you are forgotten.
Reid reportedly demonstrated a lack of remorse and a combative nature during the hearing, and said that "the flag will come down on the day of judgment".
He is serving his sentence at
United States Penitentiary, Florence ADX
The United States Penitentiary, Florence Administrative Maximum Facility (USP Florence ADMAX), commonly known as ADX Florence, is an American federal prison in Fremont County near Florence, Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Pris ...
, in Colorado, a
supermax facility that holds the most dangerous prisoners in the federal system.
Conspirators
Although Reid had insisted that he had acted alone and had built the bombs himself, forensic evidence included material from another person.
In 2005, a British man,
Saajid Badat
Saajid Muhammad Badat (born 28 March 1979) is a British terrorist who was sentenced to a 13-year prison term for planning to blow up an aircraft with a bomb hidden in his shoe.
Badat did not go through with the plot. His co-conspirator Richard ...
from
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
, admitted that he had conspired with Richard Reid and a
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
n man (
Nizar Trabelsi
Nizar ben Abdelaziz Trabelsi (born 2 July 1970) is a Tunisian former professional footballer. In 2003, he was convicted as terrorist and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for his association with Al-Qaida, and for plotting to attack US target ...
, who is in prison in Belgium), in a plot to blow up two airliners bound for the United States, using their shoe bombs.
Badat has said that he had been instructed to board a flight from
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
to the United States. Badat never boarded and withdrew from his part of the conspiracy. Badat did not warn criminal or aviation authorities about Reid.
Badat confessed immediately after being arrested by the British police. The detonator cord in Badat's bomb was found by experts to be an exact match for the cord on Reid's bomb,
and their explosive chemicals were essentially identical.
He had received the bomb-making materials from an Arab in Afghanistan. Badat was sentenced to 13 years in prison by a British judge and has since been released.
Changes in airline security procedures
As a result of these events, some airlines encouraged passengers departing from an airport in the United States to pass through airport security in socks or bare feet while their shoes are scanned for bombs. In 2006, the TSA started requiring all passengers to remove their shoes for screening. Scanners do not find
PETN
Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), also known as PENT, PENTA, (ПЕНТА, primarily in Russian) TEN, corpent, or penthrite (or, rarely and primarily in German, as nitropenta), is an explosive material. It is the nitrate ester of pentaerythri ...
in shoes or strapped to a person. A chemical test is needed. However, even if the X-ray scanners cannot detect all explosives, it is an effective way to see if the shoe has been altered to hold a bomb.
In 2011, the rules were relaxed to allow children 12 and younger and adults 75 and older to keep their shoes on during security screenings.
Alleged role in 9/11
Captured al-Qaeda terrorist conspirator
Zacarias Moussaoui
Zacarias Moussaoui (Arabic: زكريا موسوي, '; born May 30, 1968) is a French member of al-Qaeda who pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to conspiring to kill citizens of the United States as part of the September 11 attacks. He is serv ...
stated at his sentencing hearing in 2006 that Reid was a co-conspirator in the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
on the United States, and that Moussaoui and Reid had intended to hijack a fifth aircraft and crash it into the White House in Washington, D.C. as part of the attacks that took place that day.
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
investigators and the federal prosecutors were skeptical of Moussaoui's claim that Reid was involved in the plot.
Prison restrictions
Reid filed a lawsuit challenging the restrictions placed on him in prison which controlled his communications with lawyers and other non-prisoners, limited his access to Muslim clerics, and prevented him from joining in group prayer at the prison. In 2009, Reid went on a
hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
and was
force-fed
Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a human or animal against their will. The term ''gavage'' (, , ) refers to supplying a substance by means of a small plastic feeding tube passed through the nose ( nasogastric) or mouth (orogastric) into t ...
and hydrated for several weeks. It was unknown whether Reid's hunger strike was related to his lawsuit. The Department of Justice, after consulting with its counter-terrorism section, the prosecuting US attorney's office, and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
, allowed Reid's prison restrictions to expire in 2009, rather than renewing them, making his lawsuit
moot
Moot may refer to:
* Mootness, in American law: a point where further proceedings have lost practical significance; whereas in British law: the issue remains debatable
* Moot court, an activity in many law schools where participants take part in s ...
.
See also
*
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...
*
Islamic terrorism
Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists.
Incidents and fatalities f ...
*
*
Ramzi Yousef
Ramzi Ahmed Yousef ( ur, , translit=''Ramzī Ahmad Yūsuf''; born 20 May 1967 or 27 April 1968) is a Pakistani convicted terrorist who was one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the bombing of Philippine Airlines ...
*
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab ( ar, عمر فاروق عبد المطلب ; also known as Umar Abdul Mutallab and Omar Farooq al-Nigeri; born December 22, 1986) popularly referred to as the "Underwear Bomber" or "Christmas Bomber", is a Nigerian-bor ...
(popularly known as the "Underwear Bomber")
*
United Airlines Flight 663
*
Zacarias Moussaoui
Zacarias Moussaoui (Arabic: زكريا موسوي, '; born May 30, 1968) is a French member of al-Qaeda who pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to conspiring to kill citizens of the United States as part of the September 11 attacks. He is serv ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Richard
1973 births
20th-century English criminals
21st-century English criminals
Al-Qaeda bombers
American Airlines accidents and incidents
British al-Qaeda members
English male criminals
British people convicted of attempted murder
British people convicted of theft
British Salafis
Converts to Sunni Islam from Christianity
Criminals from London
English former Christians
English people convicted of assault
English people imprisoned abroad
English people of Jamaican descent
English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
English Sunni Muslims
Inmates of ADX Florence
Islamic terrorism in the United States
Living people
People associated with the September 11 attacks
People convicted on terrorism charges
People educated at Thomas Tallis School
People from Bromley
People imprisoned on charges of terrorism
Perpetrators of religiously motivated violence in the United States
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government